Butterfly Fly Away
by I 4 2 write
Summary: Song fic that goes with For the cub. Mila embarks on the Hogwarts Express.


Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Just to tell you

AN: Sorry I haven't published in awhile. This is just a fluff piece I felt like writing. For those of you who haven't read For the Cub, Mila is Remus' adopted daughter, which will be talked about in this songfic. I don't own HP or the song Butterfly Fly Away by Miley and Billie Raye Cyrus. I used the extended lyrics from his CD.. My thanks as always to Padyandmoony for putting up my work. For those of you who haven't heard this song and would like to, here's the link.

http: / www . youtube . com / watch?v=W7ouN-dvqZI

Mila Lupin stood at Platform 9 and 3/4 ready to go to Hogwarts for the first time like any other eleven year old. The fact that she was a werewolf wasn't going to stop her, although she could easily have gone to Phoenix House, the school her father and Uncle Padfoot had started for werewolves. It felt strange though, to be leaving there. It was more than her home. If it wasn't for comming to Phoenix House, she never would have met the man who was her father in every way except blood, her brother, her uncle, or her new mother, who was now carrying her new brother or sister. But she wanted to show that she was the same as any other girl, that there was no reason a werewolf couldn't be "normal."  
As she stood waiting for the Hogwarts Express, she thought about her first days at Phoenix House. Right from the start, Remus had done everything he could to make her feel at home, done more than her birth parents who had been unwilling to raise a werewolf.

"If you need anything, be sure to let me know, all right?"  
Mila nodded as Remus tucked the quilts around her. She hadn't been at Phoenix House long, but she had spoken to Remus earlier that day, already feeling she could trust him. He had helped her feel better about being a werewolf, and about being at Phoenix House even though she was too young for school and just didn't have anywhere else to go. Now he was doing what he could to make her feel at home before he turned out the bedroom light.  
_You tucked me in,  
Turned out the light  
Kept me safe and sound at night  
Little girls depend on things like that._  
At the end of the year, Mila had been missing her parents even worse than she had at first, because she finally had to accept that they weren't comming back for her. But Remus had assured her that she was part of his family now, a family that at the time had included him, Harry, who he'd been able to adopt shortly after Lily and james had died, and the recently freed Sirius. As a member of the family, Mila would be going with them to Hogwarts to watch Harry compete in the final task of the triwizard tournament. She had wondered briefly if Remus had meant what he'd said about her being part of the family, but when he'd asked if she was ready, he sounded like he really was looking forward to her comming along.  
_Brushed my teeth and combed my hair  
Had to drive me everywhere  
You were always there when I looked back._  
Later, she realized she should have known he'd meant it right away. After all, he'd raised Harry at a time when the pain of his friends' loss had been fresh and he hadn't known if he could hold a job or successfully raise a 'd only known he couldn't leave Harry with the Dursleys/ The Weasleys had babysat when he'd needed them too and were always happy to help, but the main burden had been shouldered by Remus.  
_You had to do it all alone  
Make a living, make a home  
Must have been as hard as it could be._  
Even with his reassurance though, she'd still had nightmares about transforming and being left again. There were no guarentees about the future. When these thoughts kept her up at night, Remus always held her hand and stayed with her until she fell asleep.  
_And when I couldn't sleep at night  
Scared things wouldn't turn out right  
You would hold my hand and comfort me._

Remus looked at his daughter, the smile on her face. She had changed so much from that fearful little girl she had been. People sometimes said she reminded them more of a fawn then a wolf. She'd always reminded Remus more of a caterpiller, something small and easily hurt, but with all the potential in the world. She'd been afraid of what being a werewolf would mean at first, what kind of person she'd be.  
_Caterpillar in the tree, how you wonder who you'll be  
_There were also the laws Umbridge had passed against werewolves, making it almost impossible for them to find work.  
_Can't go far but you can always dream_  
Mila's dreams had never been big ones, but Remus had been determined from the start that they would come true. There wasn't much he could do, especially being a werewolf himself, but he could at least let her know she belonged with the family. He could reassure her, help her during transformations, and protect her against most of the discrimination in the world. And now, much as he worried about her, he was letting her go to Hogwarts so she could have as close to a normal life as possible. He'd promised her she could be like anyone else, and letting her grow up was part of that promise.  
_Wish you may and wish you might  
Don't you worry hold on tight.  
I promise you there will come a day  
Butterfly Fly Away_

When they first met, Remus would never have guessed the bond that would for between them, although he'd felt protective of her right from the moment she tugged on his sleeve and talked to him about her fears.  
_I turned around and you were there.  
The two of us made quite a pair._  
There had been so many special moments since. Remus' favorite was when she had first called him dad, letting him know she saw him as her father the way he'd always seen her as a daughter even before she'd been adopted.  
_Daddy's little girl was here at last.  
_Now Mila was more sure of herself, but physically still so small and frail looking. Her birthdays had been special events the same as any child's would be, but somehow Remus hadn't really thought of them as marking her becomming more grown up, closer to eleven. He'd refused to see it, and when it caught up to him it was a bit of a surprise.  
_Looked away and back again,  
suddenly you were ten.  
Don't know how we got so far so fast._  
Actually getting to have Mila in his life at all had been a surprise. Only the year before he'd met her it had been just him and Harry. He never would have guessed back then the happy turn his life would take, getting his best friend back, meeting his daughter, getting married, and now having another child on the way  
Mila had certainly never planned the turn her life would take either, being bitten by a werewolf, being left by her first family only to find another.  
_And yet I still don't understand,  
it's not anything we planned._  
There definately seemed to be some fate involved.  
_Kind of makes you think it's meant to be_  
The whistle on the Hogwarts Express blew, breaking Remus from his thoughts. Mila gave everyone a good bye hug then got on the train, waving out the window as it pulled away. It was so hard to see her go even if it was only for the school year. Still, he knew she wouldn't stay little forever.  
_I always knew the day would come,  
when you'd stop crawling, start to run.  
Beautiful as beautiful can be._  
"She isn't leaving forever you know," Tonks told her husband, though her eyes were glistening a bit too.  
"I know," Remus answered. "Our little caterpillar just became a butterfly. That's all.'

_Caterpillar in the tree, how you wonder who you'll be  
Can't go far but you can always dream  
Wish you may and wish you might  
Don't you worry hold on tight.  
I promise you there will come a day  
Butterfly Fly Away  
Butterfly Fly Away_

_Flap your wing now you cant stay  
Take those dreams and make them all come true  
Butterfly Fly Away (butterfly fly away)  
We been waiting for this day  
All along and know just what to do  
Butterfly,  
Butterfly,  
Butterfly,  
Butterfly Fly Away._


End file.
